SLAVE NARRATIVES - Library of Congress

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the war. I know I must have "been at least four years old then. Tou can fig-
ure that up and see what it comes to.
"I never did any work when I was a child. I jus went to the spring with
the young Mistress and danced for them sometimes. But they never did give me
any work to do, — like they did the others. I lived right in the "biggest
house the "biggest portion of my time.
"Ihat day and time, they made compost heaps. Mixed dirt with manure.
They hoed cotton and crops. They didn't know wjiat school was. They helped
with washing and ironing. Did every kind of work they had strength enough to
do till they got big enough to go to the field, '^hat was vdiat the children
did.
"When they were about seven years old, to the "best of my recollection
they would go to the field. Seven or eight. They would pick up corn stalks
and brush. And from that on when they were about eight or nine, they would
pick cotton.
H Jty mother never did have to do anything round the farm. She lived about
seventy-five miles from it, there where the master had his office. He was a
lawyer. After I was born, she didn f t come out to see me but once a year that
I recollect. When she did come, she would bring me some candy or cakes or
something like that.
M I didn f t see the soldiers during the time of the war. But I saw plenty
of them afterwards — riding round and telling the niggers they were free.
'They had some of the finest saddles I ever seed. You could hear them creaking
a block off. Ho, I didn f t see them while they was fighting. We were close
enough to hear the guns crash, and we could see the light from them, but 1 didn f t
actually see the fight in. The Yankees come through on every plantation where
they were working and entered into every house and told us we was free. The
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